LaTeX Lessons

Lesson Eleven: Inserting EPS Figures

To import EPS (encapsulated postscript) figures into your document, the epsfig package is required. Insert command \usepackage{epsfig} after the \documentclass definition:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{epsfig}

Download: latsam11.tex and myfigure.eps

Inserting the EPS file

The basic code to insert an EPS format image into the document is as follows:

\begin{figure}
  \epsfig{file=myfigure.eps}
\end{figure}

Note: the above code has been indented. This is ignored by the latex compiler, but it useful to help people understand the code.

Images can be placed anywhere in the main document i.e. between the \begin{document} and \end{document} tags. The latex compiler will place the image as close as possible to where the image is declared in the document, taking into account other objects and page breaks.

Adding a caption the image

\begin{figure}
  \epsfig{file=myfigure.eps}
  \caption{This is a caption}
\end{figure}

Resizing the image

In the next example, the resizebox command has been used to set the size of the image:

\begin{figure}
  \resizebox{8cm}{!}{
    \epsfig{file=myfigure.eps}
  }
\end{figure}

Centering the image

The image can also be centered by inserting \begin{center} and \end{center} tags:

\begin{figure}
  \begin{center}
    \epsfig{file=myfigure.eps}
  \end{center}
\end{figure}

Putting it all together

\begin{figure}
  \begin{center}
    \resizebox{8cm}{!}{
      \epsfig{file=myfigure.eps}
    }
    \caption{This is a caption}
  \end{center}
\end{figure}

This concludes lesson 11.

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